FRANCE 98 – Match Summary n°56
Deadly Davor Suker scored from the penalty spot in the final minute of the first half as the Croatian World Cup juggernaut rolled in the quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over Romania at the Parc Lescure here on Tuesday.
The Croatians, who are making a spectacular World Cup debut, will now face three-time champions Germany in the quarter-finals in Lyon on Saturday night. ” This is a dream come true for us, “ said wing back Robert Jarni. ” It is a great performance for a small country like ours to be in the last eight of the World Cup alongside all the great football nations. “
It was the second time in the tournament that a goal from Real Madrid ace Suker had sealed Croatia victory. He scored the only goal in a 1-0 first-round victory over Japan in Nantes and also found the net in the 3-1 win over Jamaica. Although the penalty award by Argentine referee Javier Castrilli seemed harsh, there was no doubt the Croatians deserved to win after an impressively composed performance. Midfielder Aljosa Asanovic tumbled in the area with Gabriel Popescu in close attendance but the Argentine official had no doubts about the illegality of the challenge and immediately pointed to the spot.
Suker’s first spot kick found the net, but he was ordered to take the penalty again after one of his teammates was adjudged to have encroached into the area. The veteran kept his cool, however, and sent another low left-foot shot past goalkeeper Bogdan Stelea. The second penalty was struck twice as hard as the first, but went into the same corner.
The result proved blonds don’t always have more fun. The Romanian players again turned out with their hair dyed gold, but their play had lost its lustre long before the end. Croatia now have three wins and a loss to Argentina in the tournament. Coach Miroslav Blazevic gambled on omitting veteran midfielder Robert Prosinecki from his starting line-up and Prosinecki certainly was not missed.
Igor Stimac played a storming match at sweeper in place of the suspended Zvonimir Soldo. ” I can’t say how happy we are at beating an established soccer power like Romania, “ said Blazevic. ” My players did a superb, outstanding job and the defence didn’t make any mistakes at all. “
Romania, who came into the match with two wins, including one over England, and a draw, had been aiming to make quarter-finals for second straight tournament but admitted they were beaten by a better side. ” It was a victory the Croatians deserved, “ admitted Romanian coach Anghel Iordanescu. ” They played much better than we did, with more cohesion, and created a lot more chances. ” We didn’t play at a high level today and never made goal opportunities a reality. “
The Romanians did well in the first few minutes, but it was Croatia who managed to carve out several meaningful early chances. Krunoslav Jurcic slipped the ball to Suker, who forced two brilliant diving saves from Stelea before Constantin Galca hooked the ball away to safety. The linesman’s flag was up, however, before the first shot was struck. A superb 10th-minute shot on the turn from Goran Vlaovic was then turned away for a corner by the surprised Stelea. Vlaovic was through again two minutes later but stumbled in the area and lost control. Stelea also needed to be on his mettle after 13 minutes when he made an acrobatic stop to foil Asanovic.
Romania’s first-half scoring chances were limited to two free-kicks and one breakaway. First Adrian Ilie’s free-kick was blocked by the Croatian wall and then, four minutes before the break, Gheorge Hagi sent the ball over the bar from 20 metres out. Underemployed Croatian goalkeeper Drazen Ladic’s only uncomfortable moment came when he had to move quickly off his line to block a strike from the roaming Ilie.
Romanian veteran Hagi, who has said he plans to retire from international football, lost his midfield battle with Zvonimir Boban and was substituted after just 56 minutes. There was no-one else to spark the Romanians to life. The Croatians continued to be quicker and slicker, though, and Stelea was far busier than Ladic, whose tasks consisted largely of dealing with weak long-range shots.
In the 63rd minute, the Romanian custodian spread himself impressively to block a shot from the rampant Suker with his legs. The Romanian defence creaked alarmingly several times thereafter but Croatia were not ready to push too many players up given their one-goal advantage.
With the Croatians unwilling to commit to attack and the Romanians unable to do so, the game quietly petered out. ” Once they scored they made it very hard for us to come back, “ said defender Gheorge Popescu. ” They were very tight and controlled the game well. We only played our last match four days ago, and somehow we seemed very tired today. We played so well in our group matches and that makes it even more disappointing to go out like this. “